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After reaching new heights in her career alongside star coach Darren Cahill, Simona Halep recently hired Patrick Mouratoglou as her coach. On Thursday, Halep thanked Mouratoglou for his support while announcing that she was ending her 2022 season and is planning to spend the rest of the year recovering from her recent nose surgery.
Her declaration came on the back of a first-round exit at the US Open. Halep, one of the favorites to win the tournament, was stunned by Ukrainian Daria Snigur in a 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 loss at the New York Major.
Simona Halep – Patrick Mouratoglou partnership timeline
Halep has had an eventful year. She announced that she was ending her partnership with coach Daren Cahill in September 2021. She further made crucial changes to her team in April this year when she hired Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou on a full-time basis. Mouratoglou, at the time, hadn’t officially announced his split from Williams.
Halep revealed that she was thinking of quitting the sport back in February, but with the addition of Mouratoglou to her team, she was able to renew her passion for tennis.
“In February, I was very close to stop tennis because I didn’t believe I have enough power to come back to the top 10," Halep said. "Thanks to Patrick, I slowly started to believe that I still can play a good level of tennis. My goal was clear: I gave myself one year to get back to the top 10. I trusted Patrick 100% so I wanted his people and only his people to be in charge of me.”
However, everything didn’t pan out as well as expected for Simona Halep after teaming up with Patrick Mouratoglou. At the 2022 French Open, the 2018 champion suffered a panic attack before losing her second-round encounter to China’s Qinwen Zheng.
At the time, Mouratoglou took the blame for her poor results upon himself.
“I’ve always been proud of my successes with my players, but then I also have to acknowledge when I’m not doing a good enough job. The results we’ve had the past month in Madrid, Rome and Roland-Garros are insufficient for someone of Simona Halep’s caliber and I take full responsibility for them,” he stated in an Instagram post.
The commencement of the grasscourt season saw improved results for the 2019 Wimbledon champion. She reached the semifinals at SW19, but bowed out against eventual champion Elena Rybakina. Mouratoglou acknowledged Halep’s run in his post.
“A loss is always very disappointing, especially when you give everything you have on all levels. But it is always to put in perspective, and the last three months with Simona Halep have been amazing. Now time to rest before an exciting summer,” he wrote.
Halep scored her best result of the year when she claimed her ninth WTA 1000 title at the Canadian Open. However, it was followed by a brutal first-round loss at the US Open.
Patrick Mouratoglou has been blamed for Simona Halep’s divorce
Just days before their first anniversary, it was announced that Simona Halep was set to divorce her billionaire husband Toni Iuruc.
Romanian tabloid Cancan has now blamed Mouratoglou for the split. It was reported that the former World No. 1’s husband had not attended any of her matches since she partnered with the new coach. Halep also sided with Mouratoglou after their Roland Garros failure and instead fired her manager Virginia Ruzici to hire Mouratoglou’s close companion Nina Wennerstrom.
Now, according to Romanian publication Orange Sport, it is also rumored that Simona Halep has made the decision to relocate to Nice, France, closer to Patrick Mouratoglou’s tennis academy.
